A Taste of Grenada

As we all know The Grenadines and Grenada is one of the most admired and most frequented island chains in the Caribbean. Unfortunately not too much information rather than simple advertising for yacht services is available in the usual cruising guides. What annoys me the most is that charter brokers do not really know this area and send people to be picked up in St. Vincent. Once the cruising enthusiasts have arrived there they will have to hold on tight on the sail across the Bequia Channel to Admiralty Bay where everybody wants to try the Pina Coladas at the famous “Frangipani”. The Bequia Channel is one of the worst in the Caribbean and the only 10 miles across from Kingstown can be very choppy. The ferries usually have an oversupply of these neat little paper bags you also find in front of your seats in aeroplanes; once in a while they lose containers or even two-legged cargo over the side! While Bequia is certainly a nice spot I can recommend starting the journey in Union Island or Canouan much better. These islands give a beautiful setting to start a Caribbean cruise and even Canouan has now regular flight connections through American Airlines.

A number of beautiful islands can be approached without having to sail against the wind, crossing choppy channels, or other hazards of the sea such as currents and shallow reefs. The Tobago Cays are just a short sail away and this is where everybody wants to go diving and snorkelling first. I usually anchor just North of the little dinghy passage of the Horseshoe reef. You can motor with the dinghy to the outside of the reef, take a scuba dive down or simply snorkel and the current will gently drift you over the coral heads back right to your boat. Perfect!

Once the hunger for remoteness is fed charter guests or cruising friends who came to visit me start talking about where to go next. It always will be Mustique as the highest on the list and I like it for the obvious reasons as well: Basil is still running his “Basil’s Bar” and the setting is one of the most beautiful sunset places in the Caribbean. It has been here where I saw my first and only “Green Flash”, a sun phenomena most people doubt. But I saw it – I know because most of the other guests at the bar saw it as well and a big “Aaahhh“ could be heard throughout the area all the way to Mick Jagger’s house. Another reason to visit Mustique is the unique “Cotton House”; a beautiful small hotel, restaurant, bar, where you also may get an invitation to one of the many parties hosted by the rich and famous who reside on the island during holiday season. You have to be there for the “happy hour” which is held three times a week. Another interesting spot around Mustique is the Montezuma shoal, a reef just in front of the Britannia Bay where you will be on a mooring or on anchor. On the East side of the shoal you will find a little mooring for dinghies. This leads you to a nice little dive site The Wreck of the Jonas, a 90 foot dredge which sits upright on the ground in only 40 feet of depth. Here you can see Nurse Sharks, Barracudas and beautiful soft coral. There are more dives around Mustique but I decided that you better pick all them up from a dive book and I will only give you sort of my favourite ones within this story.

Once we have had enough of Mustique we set sail again to head south on our way to Grenada. One of the spots you should not miss because everybody wants his picture taken there is Mopion, a small sandbar with a wooden palm sunbrella on it. Be careful with big dinghies – better to take a kayak ashore or snorkel your way onto the island. Once the pictures are done we sail to Petite Martinique to take on fuel and smuggled beer. Less than a mile across you can anchor off Petit St.Vincent, take a drink at the bar of the resort and enjoy the setting!

In the morning we are sailing to Carriacou. I anchor off Sandy Island and ride the dinghy across to Hillsborough to clear customs for Grenada (you shou